Skirting the Issue

TRACI L. WEISENBACH

Published 2:42 pm, Friday, April 22, 2016

PIGEON - Thursday's summer-like weather inspired a group of Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker High School boys to slip on an article of clothing they normally wouldn't wear to school. In protest of the dress code, they aimed to skirt around the school's policy, but their school day ended up being cut short.

On Thursday, five high school boys were suspended for the day after four wore skirts to school and one wore shorts in protest of the dress code that allows students to wear shorts only in September and from May 1 until the end of the school year. They felt it was unfair that boys couldn't wear shorts, but girls could wear skirts and capri pants all year.

High school Principal Lisa DiCamillo said she told the boys to come back to school Friday dressed appropriately.

She said when a student is dressed inappropriately at school, she doesn't always suspend the student. She'll often send them to their lockers, where they normally have a pair of pants, she said. But with the boys wearing skirts, she believed more needed to be done.

"This needed to stop," she said. "I'm not going to have high school boys running around in skirts … I made it very clear that I'm not going to have them disturb the educational process.

"They wanted to make a point, but they didn't go about it in the best way."

One of the students who wore a skirt was junior Gary Tennant.

"It's kind of bullcrap," Gary said of the shorts policy. "It's sexist. Guys' shorts go below the knee, and a lot of the girls' skirts are way too short. Girls' capri pants are about as long as guys' shorts."

Gary said he and his friends also wanted to make another point about the dress code.

"It doesn't say we can't wear skirts," he said.

Gary said he and his friends believe students should be able to wear shorts at a certain temperature, rather than waiting for a certain day.

He said he and his friends "tried to talk to her (DiCamillo)" about the shorts policy, but they believed they needed to take further action.

"Nobody will listen," he said.

DiCamillo declined to confirm the boys' names, citing legal reasons.Gary said he and his friends weren't sure what the consequences of their actions would be.

"We thought we might get in trouble," Gary said, noting he didn't think they'd get suspended.

Gary said he doesn't regret what he did and if he could do the day over, "I would do the same thing."

He said, though, the skirt-wearing tactic might not have been the best method to communicate his displeasure with the dress code.

"I guess we could've done it in a better way, but we were just trying to prove a point," he said.

Gary said Thursday morning, DiCamillo directed him and the other four boys to go to the high school office, and their parents were contacted. Gary's father, Steve Tennant, said he gathered a pair of shorts and a nice shirt for his son to wear and he took them to the school.

"I told (DiCamillo) that he could wear that or stay in his skirt. She told me to leave the building," Steve said.

Steve said he asked DiCamillo where it said in the handbook that boys couldn't wear skirts. He said the conversation ended up with DiCamillo calling the police.

Pigeon Police Chief Eric Wissner confirmed that DiCamillo contacted the police for a general assist about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. He said the call was regarding "an unconfirmed unruly parent."

"By the time I arrived, the parent was in the superintendent's office," Wissner said. "There was no further incident."

Wissner said he and Steve Tennant walked out of the building together, but he was not escorting him out of the building.

According to records at Huron County 911 Central Dispatch, DiCamillo called for a second general assist about 11:23 a.m. Thursday. The Huron Daily Tribune was not able to get any further information prior to press time today regarding the second request.

DiCamillo declined to comment about contacting the police.

Steve Tennant said he was pleased with the conversation he had with Laker Superintendent Bob Smith.

"I'm completely happy with Mr. Smith. I'm not happy with Miss DiCamillo and her dictatorship," he said.

Smith said he met with Steve Tennant as well as some other parents of the boys involved. Smith said while students need to follow procedures that are in place, he can understand the need for a possible change in the dress code regarding shorts. He said the concept of going by a temperature rather than a date makes sense when determining when students can wear shorts to school.

Smith agreed the students didn't handle the situation as smartly as they should have. He said it's not uncommon for students at this age to "take the most extreme action" when trying to initiate change, but they also have to be willing to accept the consequences.

"Sometimes you have to do things wrong before you do them right," he said.

When asked about DiCamillo's choice to suspend the students for the day, Smith said "I'm confident she did what she could faced with the facts she had at that time."

Smith said students at this age have a lot of courage, and this can lead to over-the-top actions.

"One has to admire the spirit of young people," he said.

Smith said the students involved in the protest are those the district can be proud of, despite their Thursday antics.

"These are really good kids," Smith said.

He said he told the parents a positive step to take would be for them and their students to go to the next board of education meeting at 7 p.m. May 12 at the junior high media center.

Smith said he's certain this issue will end with "a happy resolution."

DiCamillo said the policy regarding shorts has been in place for about 15 or more years, and there rarely is a problem with it.

"It's very clear cut," DiCamillo said. "We have a policy and practice that is fair and has run the test of time. It's balanced and it takes into consideration that the high school is an un-air conditioned building … We try to be flexible."

She said an acceptable length of shorts is not specified in the dress code.

While the dress code doesn't make specific mention of skirts, it does require students to dress in a safe and sensible manner, DiCamillo said.

"That's all we're asking kids to do," she said.

DiCamillo said if she finds female students wearing skirts that are too short, she sends them home to change.

She said on Wednesday, she hosted an assembly for all of the high school girls to inform them of appropriate warm weather wear, which included skirts and shirts that are not too short.

"I wanted to be clear about the directions," she said.

DiCamillo said she doesn't have this assembly every year, but she sensed the need to have one this year.

She said creating school policy is challenging because each policy affects about 400 students - and about 800 parents.

"Each policy has to handle the most conservative parent and the most liberal parent," she said.

DiCamillo said she hopes this incident will be a lesson learned for all students.

"We need to be able to teach students how to handle request for change," she said. "You don't go into breaking rules and creating havoc before you even get to step one."

She said an appropriate step would've been to make an appointment with her to talk about the dress code.

DiCamillo said students need to be able to respect dress codes, as they'll have to abide by them at their future jobs.

"We need to teach young people there are places where you need to dress appropriately," she said.